- The Calanques National Park in Marseille is calling on volunteers this weekend to uproot exotic plants.
- These invasive species harm local biodiversity.
- It will take ten years to successfully deplete the seed stock in the soil.
The myth of Sisyphus revisited in the creeks. The volunteers convened this weekend at Mont Rose will not be responsible for forever pushing a rock to the summit of Marseilleveyre. But their task can also seem infinite: they will have to uproot the plants of American agave, prickly pear, witch's claw or arboreal alfalfa. Exotic, invasive plants, which disturb the biodiversity of the creeks.
“We know they will come back, recognizes Laureen Keller, Life Habitat project manager for the Calanques National Park. They have developed a root system and a seed bank. For the prickly pear, for example, it takes ten years to completely exhaust the stock! "
"A plant biodiversity hotspot"
Sisyphus was condemned for eternity to his strange punishment ... The volunteers of Mont Rose only take it for ten years. "With the Park guards, we will do" ironing "every year to eliminate the seedlings, then every two years," continues Laureen Keller. The goal is not to "clean up" the entire cove, but only certain places. "In some areas there is nothing we can do, but on the islands or on the coastal areas, we know there is still time to act," says Loïc Panzani, of Naturoscope, the association that will manage the volunteers. weekend at Mont Rose.
The @ParcCalanques hosts a European program called "LIFE habitats Calanques" whose objective is to protect the natural habitats of the coast, now threatened.
Focus on the speculated plantain, a rare species whose planting is reinforced on the island of Friuli. pic.twitter.com/KTOdYWQSWi
This site is “the best possible laboratory”, according to Julien Ugo, of the European National Botanical Conservatory: “All the challenges of the Park are summed up on a small pebble! It is the biggest hotspot of plant biodiversity, the frequentation by visitors is intense and as we are near private gardens, species come to spread there. The actors of this weekend's operation are also doing a great job of raising awareness with the inhabitants of the area surrounding the park, so that they stop planting invasive species in their gardens.
Time-consuming projects
Like all the protagonists of this uprooting campaign, Julien Ugo is "optimistic":
“These operations are effective when you want them. We have done a lot of work on cartography, we have prioritized and crossed data to determine priority sites. We have enough feedback to say that it will work! "
To "accelerate healing", local plants, such as the talus, will also be planted to occupy the ground and "put the odds on our side", as Julien Ugo says. The first tests, carried out last March on the island of Ratonneau, in the Frioul archipelago, are conclusive.
The sites are "time consuming" but effective. In accessible areas, they will be conducted with volunteers. On the islands or in the cliffs of the Park, a specialized company will take care of it, before being relayed by the Park's agents. "In no case are we going to eradicate invasive plants, it would be illusory and it would be a financial chasm," concludes Laureen Keller. But we think that in ten years, we will be able to say: "the local flora has resettled!" "
Justice
Marseille: Against poachers, the prosecution supports the Calanques park in a historic audience
Marseilles
Marseille: What is the most beautiful cove, what is the most accessible? Tourist friends, follow the guide
- creeks
- Environment
- plants
- biodiversity
- Marseilles
- Planet